In today's rapidly paced society, professional and personal demands on messaging technologies, such as voice mail, e-mail, facsimile and pagers, have greatly increased. The development of this technology, in turn, has increased demands on mobile people who rely on these messaging devices for a variety of business and social communications. Specifically, these expectations have forced the mobile professional to demand the ability to receive messages regardless of time, location, or availability of messaging devices. According to a recent study by Pitney Bowes Inc. of Stamford, Conn., a typical business professional receives 169 messages a day. Many of these messages are delivered using some form of electronic and mobile communication such as cellular telephones, facsimiles, analog/digital telephone, pagers, e-mail transmission, and personal data assistants (PDA). These messages help determine the mobile professional's daily plans, keep him/her in contact with his/her community and enable him/her to accomplish his/her professional and personal goals.
Mobile professionals, recognizing the capabilities of these devices, have relied on these devices such that they have become nearly indispensable tools for many businesses and individual consumers. Through these devices, mobile professionals can receive messages and/or documents from virtually any location.
There are problems, however, with conventional document messaging systems. Often, mobile professionals find themselves with only their PDA and the need to securely retrieve a document. Most PDA's are not equipped with modems and most are not equipped with printers. It is not always convenient or desirable to review documents received electronically on devices with small display screens, such as, for example, a pager or PDA. In those instances, the user may wish to print a hard copy of the document for ease in review and editing. Further, those equipped with wireless services can only retrieve a limited amount of information because of limited bandwidth and/or the cost of per kilobyte transmission.
Another problem is the reception of a secure document or message is typically a coordinated affair where the mobile professional must find an available computer, with an attached printer, that is coupled to a network, such as, for example, the Internet, and configured to receive e-mail and associated attachments. The mobile professional must then communicate an e-mail address to which the document or message should be sent to a person waiting to send the document. The mobile professional can then retrieve the document once it has been e-mailed by the other person utilizing the available computer.
Thus, there exists a need for a messaging system that can provide secure, on-demand delivery of documents, ensuring receipt by the intended recipient and ensuring confidentiality of the contents of the document or message, and providing the document on a printed medium without assistance from another party.